Insensibility

With bitter irony Owen presents in this poem the dehumanizing influence of war on man. Ironically the poet observes that if there are people who could become insensible before they are killed, then they are to be considered really lucky. Very often in war people i.e. soldiers allow their felling to be deadened. War has actually blunted the sense of pity of the soldiers for their dead comrades. So they march in the battlefield, trampling in the dead bodies of their comrades quite unconcerned.
When soldiers in the front line are mowed down by the enemy artillery, their comrades have no compassion for them. Though most of them are the youth of the country, its finest flowers, the callous soldiers think that it is sentimental nonsense for the poets to lament their death. The hardened soldiers feel that there is no need to mourn the death of their comrades. The gaps in the ranks caused by their death will be filled by a fresh batch of soldiers. No one is bothered about the loss of so much human material.
Some soldiers have stopped feeling for themselves. Owen thinks that in one sense it is a blessing to be bereft of feeling; insensibility is the best defense against the horrors and uncertainties of the war. The incalculable element in war is less puzzling to the soldiers than the figures in their pay bills. Happy are the soldiers deprived of imagination as that would only add to burden of ammunition they have to carry.
The soldiers do not shrink with disgust from the sight of blood because it is too common in the battlefield. Their senses are burnt by the cautery (hot iron): here, it is the gun. Their sense feeling is so much seared that they can laugh at the sight of their comrades’ death. Happy is the soldier who comes home without any nation that every morning some men attack and many lives are lost. The war-worn veterans’ march silently knowing fully that death will seize them as certainly as night follows day.
Let us not be moved by the bloodshed in the battle fled. We shell learn to kook at through the eyes of the callous soldiers. A soldier is never known for finer feelings which make a man’s life rich. Hence when a soldier dies, nothing of any value departs from him. The soldier dies not know the difference between the tranquil end of a well-lived life and towards the hysterical end of his own contemptible life. The poet towards the end of the poem openly condemns the brutalized soldier who is not shocked even by the boom of the cannon.
The civilians are immune to pity. They are cursed who cannot feel. Their lack of feeling was deliberate. By choice the soldiers made themselves immune to pity, immune to death and immune to misfortune. It is but natural that man feels for others suffering. The quality of pity should always spring in the human bosom. It is regrettable that this spring is dried up in us.

The Night Train to Deoli

In this short story, Ruskin Bond narrates his experience during one of his train journeys to Dehra as an eighteen-year-old. He tells us that he used to spend his vacation every summer in his grandmother’s place in Dehra and had to pass a small lonely station, Deoli amidst the jungle on the way. This station appears strange to him as no one got on or off the train there & nothing seemed to happen there. He wonders why the train stopped there for ten minutes regularly without reason and feels sorry for the lonely little platform.
On one such journey, the author happens to see a pale-looking girl selling baskets. She appears to be poor, but with grace and dignity. Her shiny black hair and dark, troubled eyes attracts the author. The girl offers to sell baskets to him. He initially refuses to buy and later when she insists, happens to buy one with a little hesitation, daring not to touch her fingers in the melee. Both of them just look at each other for quite some time, just as it strikes a chord of affection between them. He longs to see her, her searching and eloquent eyes, again on his return journey. The meeting helps to break the monotony of his journey & brings in a sense of attachment & responsibility towards the girl.
The second time he sees her, both of them feel pleased to see each other, a smile on their faces reinforcing it, it seems like a meeting of old friends. Silence reigns and speaks more than words. He feels like taking her with him but does not do so. He tells her that he needs to go to Delhi and she replies saying she need not go anywhere, perhaps expressing her helplessness. Both of them separate unwillingly as the train leaves the station, with the hope of meeting again. The author spends the remainder of the journey and a long time later thinking about her.
The next summer, soon after his college term finishes, he rushes to go to Dehra, eager to meet the girl, his grandmother being an excuse. This time she is not to be seen at the Deoli station though he waits for a long time. This deeply disappoints him and a sense of foreboding overcomes him. On his way back to Delhi, he again waits anxiously to see her, but it ends in vain. On enquiry, he comes to know that the girl has stopped coming, & nobody knows about her whereabouts. Once again, he has to run for the train and invariably leave the station. He decides that once he would break the journey there, spend a day in the town, make enquiries and find the girl who had stolen his heart.
The following year in summer, he again walks up & down the platform hoping to see the girl, but somehow, cannot bring himself to break the journey to look for her. He seems to be afraid of discovering about her, dreading about anything unfortunate that could have befallen her and wants to retain his sweet memories of her & not allow it to be spoilt with unfortunate events. All the same, the author also suggests to his readers that he did not want to project himself like a hero of a movie where the hero would meet his sweetheart going through all hardships and win her over. He prefers to keep hoping and dreaming, waiting for the girl.
The author brings the readers to a realistic world rather than a fictitious, imaginary, unreal world, driving home the fact that life is not like a fiction novel or a movie; losing and gaining becomes part of life’s journey that needs to be taken in our stride. Life is a constant process, which cannot be stopped. We can only carry memories forward while life goes on.

Education:Indian and American

The essay, “Education:Indian and American” is an extract from ‘The Inscrutable American’. It essays the journey of a small town boy Gopal to the United States in persuading of further studies.
In India, Gopal had been subjected to the traditional method of education where everything had been drilled into his mind by the rote system of learning and where questioning was considered heresy by the teachers. Gopal felt that in America, he had blossomed out and had learnt the art of logical thinking, deductive reasoning and most important of all, an all-encompassing thirst for knowledge. At the same time, he appreciated the strong foundation of the basics laid down during the formative years, which helped him in his quest for knowledge. In retrospect, teachers whom he had held in high esteem now seemed old bigoted people.
Through the character of Gopal, the author forays into the Indian psyche of malice and jealousy; two qualities he did not notice in his American counter parts. Thus, he finds the reasons as to why Indians felt more at home in America than in their homeland.
The author reminiscences, through the character of Gopal, his first encounter with snow. It is a brand new experience for the small town boy. In an alien culture, Gopal could easily give vent to his emotions; something he would not have dared to do back home.
The essay critically analyses the difference in the ethos between the two cultures and the easy adaptability to better working conditions by the expatriates.

Refugee

The poem ‘Refugee’ is allusory to the historical moment of China occupying
Tibet. The Tibetans became completely homeless and had to immigrate to
the neighboring country India. Due to the massive immigration, many
suffered problems like identity crisis and rootlessness.
The speaker in the poem voices the pain of his countrymen who struggled
for establishment. The narrator here is a school going boy. He painfully
recounts the fact that his mother told him that he was a refugee. In addition,
the road side tent in which they are living metaphorically symbolizes
aimless life of the refugees.
The trauma of the boy continues even in his school. His teacher teasingly
remarks at him that the letter ‘R’ has been engraved on his forehead. The
letter ‘R’ in this context refers to the painful state of being a refugee. The
struggle of the boy to break out of the crisis is emphasized when he says
he tried to scratch his forehead. But all his efforts go in vain with a result of
‘red brash’.
The problem of the boy’s crisis is heightened when he recounts the
languages he has known namely: his mother tongue to sing in joy, English
and Hindi for survival. Even the boy’s language suffers crisis as it is
sandwiched between two foreign languages Hindi and English.
The sole consolation for the boy in the midst of all the adverse
circumstances is that his name RAMZEN retains the Tibetan flavor.
Excepting the name, the boy’s identity seems to have been completely
engulfed by events over which he has no control.

Twist

The poem 'twist' is a powerful expression of black consciousness, a
movement that marks the battle of the blacks for upliftment of the socially
downtrodden. The poet, E. R. Braithwaite uses no conventional poetic
features to emphatically propangadise the black culture. The poem serves as
a reminder of the vast cultural heritage of the blacks. The use of certain
adjectives implies the social status of the blacks. Hence, despite its brevity,
the poem is effective enough in capturing the spirit of the black
consciousness movement.
The poet refers to a town which is described as 'shanty', to indicate the
poverty of the blacks as opposed to their cultural affluence, which is
mentioned in the subsequent lines. The place appears to be an inn where
there is an assemblage of young girls. There is a deliberate reference to their
colour as black, brown and a mixture of black and brown. Thus the reference
to skin colour is reminiscent of the apartheid movement of South Africa.
The cultural significance of the poem surfaces through the description of the
dance 'twist'. The poet is all appreciation for the performer who arouses a
sensual thirst in her audience. The poet draws our attention to the graceful
movement of the hips of the performer to the tunes of the jukebox, which
brings in a thunder of hunger in the bellies of the audience. Thus the poem
serves as a celebration of black heritage.

Just Lather That's All

The story explores the conflict between general ideology and professional ethics. The problem of choosing between the two is beautifully handled. The barber’s dilemma pervades through the story and eventually he succeeds in making the right choice. The story focuses on the ethics of the barber and the ideology of a true rebel. The barber is proud of the precision and perfection he maintains while dealing with his customers. He is a skilled barber who does his job perfectly without allowing even a tiny pore to open and issue forth its pearl of blood.
The captain comes to test the barber for he knows he is a conscientious barber and that he would find it hard to kill. The captain is true to his profession. He enters the shop as a customer and not as an authoritative officer. He presents himself as a defenseless customer. The barber debates with his conscience. His conscience gives him both versions of the result of the killing of the captain. Some may hail him as the true rebel and some may call him a coward for having killed an unarmed captain. He ultimately overcomes the temptation to kill the captain. The barber thinks in terms of violence and bloodshed but decides not to sacrifice his principles and ideals to fulfill the cause of the rebels.
The true ideology of a rebel is to fight for a cause. He would kill an enemy in the battlefield and not in his shop. The barber ultimately understands that his job is to prepare the lather and nothing more than that. The barber at the end has just lather in his hand and not blood or stain.
The title “Just Lather That’s All” refers to his profession that it is just lather nothing more matters to him.

Ode to Duty

The Ode to Duty is one of the noblest poems in the whole range of English Literature. It was produced at eh turning-point of the poet’s career. In this poem we get the rather simple idea that duty is conscientiousness. It means due attention to the world and its cares. As the poet will say many years later: “The education of man and above all of a Christian is the education of duty”.

Stanza I : Duty is the stern daughter of the voice of God. Duty is the light that guides human beings along the right path and prevents them from following the path of evil. Under its guidance human beings gain the victory over groundless fears and temptations of life. It puts and end to the mental conflicts of human beings.

Stanza II : There are some people who instinctively follow the right path. They do not require the guidance of duty. They are led purely by their generous impulses which are characteristic of youth. They are really very happy. They perform their duty without being aware of it and their conduct is naturally blameless. If such people ever go astray, duty should come to their rescue by putting them on the right path again.

Stanza III : It will be happy day for human beings when they are correctly guided by their natural instincts and feel a spontaneous joy in doing right. Even now there are some happy men who completely rely upon love and joy to guide them, but seek the help of duty whenever they are in doubt.

Stanza IV: In the past the post did not know the danger of the chartered freedom of trusting solely to one’s impulses and led a life of unrestrained freedom. Though he was not swept away by the wild gusts of passion, he was under the influence of his own natural impulses. On many occasions he heard the calls of duty in his heart, but preferred the easier life of self-indulgence to the hard path of duty. Now he resolves to follow the dictates of duty more strictly.

Stanza V: The poet’s desire to live under the constant supervision of duty does not spring from mental agitation or remorse. After calm deliberation he has realized that the path of duty is the right path of action. He is tired of leading a life of unrestrained freedom and the sudden outbursts of passion are an irksome burden to him. He would not like his hopes to fluctuate with the passage of time. Now he wishes to enjoy a calm and peaceful life.

Stanza VI: Duty is a stern law-giver. Duty wears and an expression of kindness which is divine. A charming smile plays upon the lips of duty. It is through the power of duty that flowers bloom in their beds and spread their fragrance in due season. In obedience to duty the stars move always in their orbits. Even the ancient heavens have preserved their strength and freshness through the power of duty.

Stanza VII: The poet invokes duty to supervise his actions and deeds. In regulating his life, duty will only be performing a petty task. He places himself under the guidance of duty from now onwards. He hopes to overcome his weaknesses by following the path of duty. The poet, who is now made wise by being humbled, asks duty to give him the spirit of self-sacrifice and confidence that is based on reason, and to let him live in the light of truth.